Rack or wait (strawberry)

[theTheme]

This is my first batch of wine so any insight is appreciated.

I have a batch of strawberry wine that is measuring 1.014 SG, should I rack it or wait? The book that I'm working from says to rack at 1.300. I ask because the fermentation is going well, it has slowed a little, but still seem vigorous (I can hear and see bubbles still).

Here is a modified log:

1/10/14
16:48
Mashed thawed berries by hand, they came a apart a lot, but were still very cold
Combined 2# sugar on stove w/ 14 C water temp was approx 120 F
Combined both with other ingredients and stirred until no more clumps seen
*NOTE* next time use a small cup for tannin, clumps a lot
Set in closet @ 73 F covered w/ airlock

1/11/14
11:40
Stirred must
Tastes like liquid strawberry jam. Pectin enzyme is breaking down stawberries nicely, they are gray in color
14:45
started yeast in separate container
Took SG measurement:
1.072 @ 74.5 F
+.002 adjustment for temp
1.074
Added 1.3 C sugar and 1 C water
Took SG measurement
1.084
+.002 adjustment for temp
1.086 final starting SG
Tossed yeast after doubling liquid (added must) twice @ 82 F, stirred in to must, covered w/ towel and left

1/12/14
18:45
Took SG reading:
Reads 1.044
Hydro calibration -0.001
Temp calibration +0.003
Final Reading 1.046 @ 80 F
Closet temp reads 74 F
Yeast is vigorous and smells exactly like Sturm
Color has turned orange

1/13/14
Took SG reading:
Reads 1.012
Temp calibration +0.002
Final Reading 1.014 @ 76 F
Yeast is still vigorous, but has slowed from yesterday
Color still orange
Closet temp 74 F

 

[Julie]

I would wait until it is between 1.010 and 1.000 before racking or once you are down to 1.000' snap the lid down on the primary and add an airlock and let if ferment to dry before racking. It makes no difference where the must ferments dry, it will get as low is it will whether it is in a primary or a bucket. And letting it go dry in the primary does not mean you can get away with not using sorbate. If you are going to backsweeten you need to use sorbate and I would recommend sweetening it some, it will bring out the strawberry flavor. Another I would recommend is making an f-pac to backsweeten with.

Good luck

 

[grapeman]

First you said they tell you to rack it at 1.300 - you meant 1.030, which is a bit high. I would go lower like Julie and James say. Since it is strawberry you will likely want to sweeten it later. Since you began a bit on the low side you won't have anywhere near enough alcohol to inhibit yeast. Therefore if you sweeten you most certainly should use adequate k-meta and sorbate. If you left it dry, you wouldn't need sorbate, but when you sweeten a low alcohol wine you need sorbate to keep fermentation from beginning again.

 

[theTheme]

Wow, thank you for the quick feedback everyone! This answers a lot of the questions I had.

I have enough strawberries in my freezer to make 2 more 1 gallon batches so I was hoping to make the first one dry, the second semi-dry and the third sweet. I definitely plan to stabilize before bottling. Actually, I thought you had to/should always stabilize before bottling even if you thought the wine was completely dry to stave off corks popping out?

Julie, I just read the sticky on Fpacs. Will this help the color any? Right now it looks like carrot juice. I've been reading that for strawberries this is normal, but I just don't see how any red is going to re-emerge from my orange soup.

Grapeman, yes, decimals strike again! 1.030 was what the recipe states (I'm using the purple book that I'm sure many others got with their kits).

 

[Julie]

Wow, thank you for the quick feedback everyone! This answers a lot of the questions I had.

I have enough strawberries in my freezer to make 2 more 1 gallon batches so I was hoping to make the first one dry, the second semi-dry and the third sweet. I definitely plan to stabilize before bottling. Actually, I thought you had to/should always stabilize before bottling even if you thought the wine was completely dry to stave off corks popping out?

Julie, I just read the sticky on Fpacs. Will this help the color any? Right now it looks like carrot juice. I've been reading that for strawberries this is normal, but I just don't see how any red is going to re-emerge from my orange soup.

Grapeman, yes, decimals strike again! 1.030 was what the recipe states (I'm using the purple book that I'm sure many others got with their kits).

Yes it should help with the color.

 

[Scott]

And will be a big help with the flavor, color will still be kinda orangeish. Also give it plenty of time to clear. Strawberry can be a bugger sometimes.

 

[jamesngalveston]

Julie is very accurate, it will help with your color very much.
Funny how wine goes from, beautiful, and bright to, pale and ugly, to clear and beautiful again....
Its just small steps , in a much bigger picture.....

 

[theTheme]

It got racked last night. SG came in at .994. It was like a comedy of errors. I managed to overflow twice, pushed the bung all the way in when trying to attach the airlock (then had to sanitize and re siphon into another carboy and fish it out with a screwdriver), and generally made a mess all over. But, my wife was entertained and I got my bucket back and started a new batch. I can't believe how much sediment has fallen out just in 12 hrs.

One question, I had a lot extra so I put it in a glass milk container covered in a cloth in the fridge, can I use this to top up?

 

[Scott]

Yes that is a great way to capture the remaining wine to top up with, if not all comsumed by sampling!!

Sounds like you have the same amount of luck as I, at least you kept your Wife entertained.

 

[theTheme]

It is clearing slowly. The color has changed a lot (for the better, see above reference to carrot juice). I thought there was going to be a massive amount of sediment (like 2") but it seems to be compacting down a lot.